Winfield scott hoitser



Patented lune s; |899.

No. 626,6l6.

W. 8. HUSER.

LUCK.

(Application Bled July 23, 1898.)

(No maal.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

WINFIELD SCOTT HOUSER, OF BELLEFONTE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE I-IOUSER SPRINGLESS LOCK COMPANY, OF- PENNSYLVANIA.

LocK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 626,616, dated June 6, 1899.

Application filed July 23, 1898. Serial No. 686,646. (No model.)

T @ZZ whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, WINEIELD SCOTT HOUSER, of Bellefonte, in the county of Centre and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Locks, of

which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to knob-locks of that class which employ a night-latch and are employed principally for outer or front doors;

1o and it consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of a springless lock and means for operating the same either by the knobs or `by a key, as will be hereinafter more fully described with reference to the r 5 drawings, in which- Figure l is a view of the outer side of the lock with its face-plate ,removed and the knob-shaft and keeper in section and the tumbler and plate l? removed. Fig. 2 is a zo similar view with tumbler and clutch-collar in place. is an edge view of the lock. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 4 4 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is a detail of the keeper.

In the drawings, X represents the lock-case,

z 5 within which, on a stud a, is hung the gravitycam A, which is in the nature of a pear-shaped and relatively heavy plate. B is the lockinglatch, which is pivot-ally hung upon a stud?) cast on the lock-case. This 4locking-latch is 3o arranged to have a triangular portion of the same to prot-rude through a slot in the edge plate Y of the lock for the purpose of entering the keeper K in the door-jamb. The locking-latch B has a large concave bearing on its inner and upper side, against which bears the periphery of the gravity-cam A, and theupper end of said latch is fashioned into an inwardly-curved arm b', terminating at its end in a downwardly-projecting lug b2,

4o which plays in a cut-away portiona on the periphery of the gravity-cam and acts as a stop to limit the movement of these parts over each other. hen the gravity-cam A is in its highest position, as in dotted lines,

Fig. 2, the latch B is drawn into the lock-case and the door may be opened; but when said gravity-cam is in its lower position the latch B is forced outwardly and the door is locked by the protrusion of the triangular portion of the latch into the keeper K in the door-jamb.

To operate the gravity-cam A,its own weight causes it to fall and force outwardly the latch B and lock the door without the necessity of any springs whatever. To Withdraw the latch B and open the door, however, the gravity-cam A must be raised, and for this purpose it is acted upon by one or both of the operating-collars E and F through the agency of the knob-shaft I or the sleeve J. The sleeve J is rigidly attached to the outer knob H, and through it passes the knob-shaft I, which is made round within said sleeve, but square where it loosely passes through the lock. The square end of this shaft fits a square hole in the operating-collar F, whose tappetsff bear against the gravity-cam A and lift it when turned in either direction. The operatingcollar E lies flat against the collar F, but

`turns loosely on the knob-shaft and has a clutch-face e, that is adapted to be engaged by a similar clutch-face e on the sleeve J of the outer knob H, so that the outer knob H when' turned acts through its sleeve .I and clutch-face e to turn collar E and open the door, While the inner knob H', which is rigidly attached to the square end of the knobshaft, turns the latter, andwith it the collar F, to open the door. The object in making the two knobs to open the door by independent means is to enable the outer knob to be rendered inoperative for this, purpose at will, as during the night-time, for instance, when a night-key will be required. For this purpose the collar E is formed with a notch e2, whichis adapted to be engaged by a safetylatch Gr. This is hung upon a stud g, rising from the case, and has a tooth g', adapted to enter the notch e2, a key-bearing g2, and a split extension g3, which protrudes through a slot g4 in the edge plate Y. This slot g4 (see Fig. 3) is wide at both ends and narrow in the middle, and the split ends of the exten' sion g3 bear like a pair of springs against the sides of the slot, so that they bind thereagainst and are made to approach each other slightly as they pass from one end of the slot to the other, so that this end of the safetylatch will stay at the extreme limit of its throw in either position. When thrown down, as in dotted lines, Fig. 2, the tooth g of the safety-latch enters the notch of collar E and the knob-latch cannot be worked by the outer knob; but if a night-key be introduced into the keyhole h and its bit bears against the safety-latch and throws the tooth g out from the notch e2 then the door may be opened by the knob. To render this night-latch inoperative, all that is necessary is to throw the split extension g3 of the night-latch up and then either knob is made to act upon the main latch B.

The main locking-bolt is arranged in the upper part of the case. This bolt (shown at D) slides at one end through a slot in the edge plate Y and at the other end is slotted longitudinally and is guided upon a stud d, rising from the lock-case. It also has a slot with a lug d in the middle, with which engages a lug c on the tumbler C, which is hung at one end upon a stud c of the case. Any number ot' these tumblers C may be used. A keyhole 7c' is arranged below the bolt to re'- ceive a key which shoots the bolt outwardly or withdraws it into the lock, and at the same time this is done said key, acting in the usual way, raises the tumbler C and lifts its lug c l to one side or the other of the lug d of the bolt, thus holding it either in its shot or withdrawn position. P is a thin plate arranged between the tumbler and bolt and hung upon the same stud as the tumblers. This thin plate is designed to be made of different sizes or shapes and with slots in the end to receive the tumbler-lug, so as to permit a large variety of keys. The bolt D is formed on its lower side with a down wardly-projecting arm D', which when the bolt D is shot comes into contact with the curved arm of the latch B and locks this also in its protruded position.

The advantages of my invention are to be seen in the fact that there are no springs in the lock to break or get out of order, also in its cheapness, security, compactness, easy working, and general applicability to all locks.

If desired, the locking parts A B may be used without thenight-latch or locking-bolt D.

The keeper K is made with equal-sized slots, so that either end maybe placed at the top,`ac cording to whether it is to be placed on a right or left hand door, and said keeper has formed with it two offsetting arms 707e, terminating in half-rou nd or beveled cam-faces to receive the impact of the locking-latch B and guide it into the keeper.

These locks, without the nigh t-latch attachcam hung at its rear and having an enlarged c swinging front end closely fitting the concave bearing-t`ace of the locking-latch and forming both a weight and a cam coacting with the cam-face of the latch, and having also a cutaway periphery to receive the stop-lug of the latch, and a knob-shaft with lifting-tappets located below and operating the gravity-cam substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination with the locking-latch B, and the gravity-cam A; of a knob-shaft having a rigidly-turning collar F with tappets acting on the gravity-cam, a concentric sleeve bearing a knob and tu rning on theknob-shaft, and a cam-actuating collar E, said collar E and knob-sleeve having a clutch connection,

. and a night-latch for lookin g said collar E substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. A night-latch having an arm passing through the lock-case, said arm being split longitudinally to form spring extensions; in combination with the case having a slot to receive said extension, said slot being larger at both ends than it is in the middle to hold the split arm to its opposite adjustments substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. In a lock, the combination of a lockinglateh hung in pendent position and moving radially through the edge plate, and having an inwardly-curved and upwardly-extending arm terminating in a stop-lug at its end, a gravity-cam hung at its rear end and having an enlarged weighted end bearing against the curved side ot' the latch and having a cutaway periphery to receive the stop-lug, and a sliding locking-bolt arranged above these parts and having a downwardly-projecting arm adapted to come into contact with the top surface of the latch-arm when both bolt and locking-latch are protruded substantially as and for the purpose described.

VVINFELD SCOTT HOUSER. Witnesses:

HARRY KELLER, GEO. L. POTTER.

IIO 

